Riga

A Cultural Capital

Rīga is the largest, liveliest and most cosmopolitan of the Baltic capitals, a great city to visit when you are on a MSC cruise to Latvia.

A heady mixture of the medieval and the contemporary, the city has much to offer architecture and history enthusiasts in the narrow cobbled streets of Old Rīga and the wide boulevards of the New Town, where beautiful examples of Art Nouveau architecture line Strēlnieku iela and Alberta iela.

The city also has all the trappings of a modern capital, with efficient and affordable public transportation, excellent shopping, and a notoriously exuberant nightlife. An MSC Cruises excursion is a good way to experience Old Rīga, grouped loosely around Town Hall Square and Cathedral Square, which forms the city’s nucleus and is home to most of its historic buildings.

With its cobbled streets, narrow lanes and hidden courtyards, it gives the impression of stepping back in time. To the east, Old Rīga is bordered by Bastejkalns Park, beyond which lies the New Town. Built during rapid urban expansion between 1857 and 1914, its wide boulevards are lined with four- and five-storey apartment buildings, many decorated with extravagant Art Nouveau motifs. If you want to see the city unfold before you, with its melange of church domes, vast parks, ribbon of river and squat Soviet creations, follow the urban throng to Šķūņu iela to St Peter’s Church, a large red-brick structure with a graceful three-tiered spire; climb the tower for excellent panoramic views.

From the doors of St Peter’s Church, Rātslaukums (Town Hall Square) is straight ahead and dominated by the House of the Blackheads (Melngalvju nams), whose facade is an opulent masterpiece of Gothic architecture and which once served as the headquarters of Rīga’s bachelor merchants, who adopted the North African, non-white St Maurice as their patron (hence the name “Blackheads”).

Must see places in Riga

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Latvia

The Soviet occupation left Latvia with a large Russian minority population, and it remains a place divided by language and culture – Rīga in particular is a strikingly bilingual city, although all road signs and public notices are in Latvian.

And although it’s the boisterous capital to which most visitors are attracted, to experience the true spirit of Latvia during an MSC Northern Europe cruise, you’ll need to head into the spectacularly unspoiled countryside, with its lakes, forests and sandy beaches.

A cruise to Latvia has one obvious destination, its capital, Rīga. Its architectural treasures, lively nightlife and countless eating options make it a prime destination for budget travellers, and it’s also popular with stag parties.

Places within easy reach of the capital include the palace of Rundāle, while those wishing to hit the beach can head either to the nearby resort area of Jūrmala or to the port city of Ventspils.

In the scenic Gauja Valley, the attractive small towns of Sigulda and Cēsis can both be used as bases for hiking, biking, canoeing and other outdoor pursuits.

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